LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Mike Marcucci announced Tuesday that he will be retiring from the department, effective June 28.
Assistant Chief Kirk van Wormer has been named as acting unit chief and will assume unit chief responsibilities until a permanent hire is made.
A 34-year veteran of the fire service, the last 27 with Cal Fire, Marcucci was appointed as unit chief on Feb. 14, 2022, coming up to the North Bay from the Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit where he previously was its deputy chief of operations.
In his two and a half years as unit chief for the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, or LNU, he helped to bolster forces and resources available to staff.
Marcucci also served as Fire Chief for the Napa County Fire Department and the South
Lake County Fire Protection District.
“Serving as the unit and fire chief in Sonoma-Lake-Napa has been an honor and a privilege,” Marcucci said. “The work that has been done and will continue to be done has made the communities safer and that is something that I have been very proud to be a part of. It is a true partnership in the North Bay as we have learned over the past years that no agency can do it all themselves, it was my goal to maintain and strengthen those relationships.”
Under his watch LNU saw the opening of the Hood Mountain Fire Center in Sonoma County, which brought the return of a firefighter hand crew to the County.
Marcucci helped the unit secure two exclusive use helicopters to complement the already existing aviation fleet, strengthened LNU’s firefighting capabilities on the ground and coordinated the integration of AI technology into the St. Helena Emergency Command Center.
Staffing levels for the Napa County Fire Department also increased in his time as Fire Chief, thanks to the renewal of a two-year contract between Cal Fire and Napa County on comprehensive fire protection services. The Cal Fire-Napa County contract dates back to 1932.
There has been a Marcucci family member in the fire service since 1923, as his grandfather, Nello, father, Marty, and uncles, Robert Marcucci and Jim Coffey, all had decorated careers in Marin County.
Marcucci began his career in the fire service in 1990, working as a volunteer for both Columbia College and Sonora City Fire Departments as well as working as a seasonal firefighter for the Marin County Fire Department.
In 1994, he was hired as a Firefighter by the Marysville Fire Department, which signed a cooperative fire protection agreement with Cal Fire in 1997, bringing him across to state service as a fire apparatus engineer in the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit.
In 2001 he was promoted to the rank of Fire Captain at the Grass Valley Emergency Command Center.
He transferred to the Santa Clara Unit in 2007 and promoted up the chief ranks while overseeing different areas of operation for the next 15 years before being assigned as unit chief for LNU.
Marcucci also served as deputy incident commander for Cal Fire Incident Management Team 6 and has served as a Cal Fire liaison to the East Bay Incident Management Team.
Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Mike Marcucci announces retirement
- Lake County News reports
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